The Chromatic Image in the Panegyric Poetry of Abu Nawwas: An Analytic Study

Color is an important element in the artistic building of the artful image, as it holds aesthetic properties, and the artful vision-related connotations. Most often, the color reveals the senses, feelings and thoughts of the poet, who embodies all these through color. If he is in a state of happiness and pleasure, then he chooses colors implying happiness and pleasure. On the contrary, if he is in a state of sadness and depression, then he chooses colors indicating these circumstances. As such, color is one of the elements the researcher relied on in detecting the personality of the poet, his mood, and the ideas he holds in his mind. The poet, by means of color, can establish a relationship between him and the reader, because these colors hold implications and symbols, and these implications and symbols, in turn, differ among the communities, and even differ from one historical era to another. Furthermore, these connotations may be artistic, religious, psychological, social or figurative. When colors emerge in the literary text, they fascinate the reader with their beauty and influence. Then reader starts to search about the indication of the color, and he/she understands the implication of the color through the context of the poetic text; as the context defines the function and effectiveness of the color.
   The researcher selected this topic because the chromatic image is one of the pillars and even the foundations of the poetic experience, and color has its vast effect and influence in depicting the artistic image. Therefore, the chromatic image is the finest in the world of poetry. The chromatic depiction is sensory, and it is expected that the color will appear in the artistic performance process, to perform its role in conveying the impressive significance. Due to the significance of the depiction through color, the holy Quaran is full of the chromatic imaging.

   The reason the researcher limited the research topic to the panegyric poetry of the poet (Abu Nawwas), is that we are in front of a giant poet, one of the great poets of the Abbasid era, whose collection of poetry is so sizeable, with multiple poetic themes. Therefore, the researcher chose the panegyric poetry to make the topic specific, that best matches the space of the research itself.